


Set in Stone

by Tarume



Category: Naruto
Genre: Everyone Needs A Hug, Family, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Namikaze Minato Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 20:03:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12689289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarume/pseuds/Tarume
Summary: Kushina and Minato just wanted the best for their new baby, but may not get the chance. Five years later Naruto and his faithful friend, Dog, meet an interesting stranger.





	Set in Stone

The night Kushina went into labor Minato was equally happy and nervous. With him being the Hokage and her being the jinchuriki there was a high possibility of something happening and so they took every precaution they could think of to protect their precious new baby. But it wasn't enough. He had been so excited with Naruto finally there and healthy. Then the masked man had shown up. 

Ice filled his heart as the intruder held his baby. Then pure fury raced through his veins as the man tossed their defenseless newborn in the air and threatened him. Minato directed that fury into focus and moved as fast as he could—faster then he might ever had before. Pausing only once the light weight of his son was wrapped safely in his arms. 

However, in protecting Naruto Minato was separated from Kushina. He could only hold his baby for a moment, pour all his love into the one hug before going after Kushina and the mad man. 

The fox was destroying the village. Homes were crushed and people were bleeding. Civilians were running and screaming in pure terror. Looking out over the mess that had been his home, his village to guide and protect as it's leader, Minato was overwhelmed and saddened and horrified. He was a very level-headed person but it took a few moments to regain his bearings before he burst into action and yanked the beast from the village. 

The only place he had seals in place to teleport to were far from the village but way to close to Kushina and Naruto for his liking so he jumped to them the moment he could and tried to get distance between them and the fox. But the fox was still going and Kushina—beautiful, strong Kushina—trapped the thing and looked up at Minato with such love filled eyes he wanted to cry.

She was going to die. He knew that intellectually, but emotionally just couldn't accept it. She was his world, how could he live without her? He loved Naruto with every fiber of his being but their son was going to be amazing someday whether or not they were there to see it and Minato did not see a way to exist without his other half. So he gathered chakra and started explaining to her how they would die together and seal the Nine Tails in Naruto so they could help him later and so someday he could turn the tides against the evil that the masked man brought. 

Before he could make the seals for the Dead Demon Seal Kushina grabbed his hand and stared fiercely into his eyes. “Namikaze Minato,” she bit out, “If you dare die and leave my baby alone. I will never forgive you.” At his wide, helpless look she couldn't help but cry a little. She lifted a hand to his cheek and whispered softly, “I love you. Please, I don't want you to die.”

Tears dripping down his face Minato nodded and bit his thumb so he could draw a different seal on Naruto's stomach. Kushina smiled and yanked on the chains holding the beast. Then Minato started a different (and rather untested but Kushina didn't need to know that, it was likely their only chance without the Dead Demon Seal) set of hand signs that linked Kushina and Naruto and the beast.

The seal cut the demon's chakra in half and drew one bit into Kushina and the other, along with most of Kushina's chakra into Naruto's seal, binding the beast and killing the love of Minato's life. Holding his wife against his side Minato began to feel the side effects of the technique he had used and gently set the baby on the ground. 

He tucked the blanket around the babe as his legs went numb. Then he smiled gently as his arms stopped moving. Naruto was the last thing he saw as the world faded. 

xxxxxxx

Naruto was five and a big boy so he could leave his room and the mean aunty who was nice to the other boys and it wasn't fair!! Besides, he had Dog with him and they were going to have lots and lots of fun! Naruto really like Dog because Dog would do stuff with him even if he didn't talk and wouldn't do stuff with him like swim in the pond on Nara land. 

So today they were going somewhere Dog wanted to go, Naruto was being very generous in letting him choose, and he guessed it wasn't a bad place. It looked like a park but there was a statue in the middle. It was an odd statue Naruto decided. It was a man, a shinobi, kneeling on the ground with a woman clutched to his side. They were looking down at the ground in front of them and Naruto wondered what was so interesting. 

Dog sat down next to the statue and looked at him. Naruto looked around and didn't see anything else interesting in the clearing so he did what any kid would do, he started climbing on the statue. Since the figures weren't standing or really big sitting on the top wasn't very high and Naruto got bored fairly fast. He tried to get Dog to play with him but Dog didn't really play. 

It was boring but this is where Dog wanted to play so Naruto lay down where the statues were looking and started talking to Dog. The best part of hanging out with Dog, other then the fact that Dog was nice and liked him, was that Dog listened to everything Naruto ever said. Naruto didn't feel like he sometimes did with his academy teachers and the aunties at the kids home where it was like they didn't like him so they didn't see him. 

A lot of adults couldn't hear very well when he talked but Dog heard him real well even when he whispered. So he told Dog secrets and how one of the older boys at the kids home was having a birthday next week and there'd be cake and would you like to come Dog? Then he started asking about the statue, “I bet they're a mommy and daddy, right? 'Cuz mommys and daddys hug each other all the time and I even saw this one kid in class, his mommy kissed his daddy! Is was so gross! I bet they all gots cooties now.”

Dog, of course, didn't talk back or explain the statues at all but that was okay. He let Naruto snuggle up next to him for a while so Dog was his favorite. 

xxxxxx

The first thing he became aware of was the softness his limbs sunk into heavily. Then the voices. In and out the world faded and he just couldn't find the energy to really wake up, but eventually he began to remember. There were just dreams at first, but then he saw Kushina and Naruto and jolted awake as only a ninja can. He struggled to sit up and find his baby. He needed to know Naruto was okay. He needed his baby. 

There was suddenly a lot of people surrounding him and his mind screamed Danger! Danger! He struggled against them trying to get free, to stand and find his baby, but there was a needle inserted into his arm and the world faded away again. 

When he woke up after that he didn't move, didn't let his breathing change as he took stock of his own condition and his surroundings. He was in a hospital. He was weak but mostly uninjured. The jutsu he had used would have drawn a lot of energy from him and seal he used would have converted the remainder of his chakra into a harder form: he would have been turned to something like stone for a few days, a week at most. 

There was someone in the room by the bed. He cracked open his eyes and looked at the former Hokage and gave him a crooked grin that quickly became a grimace. Moving made his joints ache. He frowned, the justsu and seal he used would have been stressful on his body because while the forced solidifying preserved him until his chakra and health reserves were restored it was still an unnatural state of being where his body couldn't work naturally. But darnit! While it saved his life did he have to be so weak and sore?

The older man who sat next to the bed puffed on his pipe for a moment and let Minato find his bearings. He had been there a while waiting for the Fourth to awake. After a few breaths Minato gave up trying to sit up and simply looked over at his old friend. His voice croaked a bit when he spoke, “Where is Naruto?”

The Third handed the man a glass of water and seemed to ponder his answer for a moment. “Tell me first how you are still alive, Minato. I will not give the child over until I know for sure this is no trick.” he answered, voice stern. Minato grinned slightly. “It's a seal I came up with a few months ago,” he started, “it pretty much shut my body down for a few days so I would survive the chakra exhaustion. Now please, Sarutobi, I need to see my baby.”

The old man's face fell sad for a moment before he could hide it and Minato panicked. “Sarutobi,” he said, struggling to get up again, “Is he okay? Please tell me he's alive!” if Naruto was gone there would be no point in surviving. The old Hokage was quick to get up and push the younger man back down reassuring him. 

“Naruto is perfectly fine, Minato! Settle down before you hurt yourself. The boy is doing vary well.” he said then gave Minato an appraising look, “that jutsu you preformed lasted a bit more then a few days, Minato.” Minato nodded, it was a possibility. “How long?” he asked mentally plotting how to thank whoever had been watching over the newborn for so long. 

“Five years.”

Minato's mind stalled at that. He had been frozen for five years? Naruto had to wait five years… Naruto would be a little boy instead of the infant Minato had just been holding. The shock and the loss was a lot to take in and Minato's mind quickly slipped through what it meant to miss five years: he would have missed a lot politically (might not be or be able to be Hokage anymore) he would have missed out on Naruto's first words and steps and first day of school and and…

Minato found a stray tear build up in his eye but quickly blinked it away. There were other nin who had been through worse. It would be fine. Naruto was alive. He was alive. He still had… “Where is Kakashi?” he asked. The Third smiled grimly and Minato feared the worst. 

“I believe he's watching over Naruto right at the moment. We all thought you were dead and I believe this has come as quite a shock. I believe looking out for Naruto has been keeping Kakashi from being too reckless and insuring he returns from all his missions. They have been good for each other.” the man explained. 

Minato nodded again. Kakashi had been a mess when Rin had died and had needed something to focus on and at the time the ANBU had been perfect: Minato could look out for him and ensure he was always busy and challenged. But he understood how bad it could be if he weren't there to look out for the teenager and his self-destructive ways. 

“Can I see them?” he asked desperately. The old Hokage shook his head sadly. “You need to rest,” he explained, “and I believe we need to sort a few things out before we reveal you to the world” 

xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto was all alone today. He couldn't find Dog and no one wanted to play with him again. He wasn't sad, though, he could have lots of fun all on his own! The park with the statues was Dog's favorite so Naruto decided it was his favorite too. So that's where he was gonna play today. 

No one saw him as he snuck by like a ninja (even though he did run into that one lady) so his training must be a success! Naruto was happily kicking a ball around the grass singing a little ditty he had heard the other kids singing. “And the monkey knocked him down...” he trailed off in his singing as he spotted a grown up sitting against a tree watching him. 

The man was blond—kinda like Naruto was—and dressed like a ninja so Naruto wasn't scared of him. Sometimes ninja were a lot nicer then normal people. Naruto kicked the ball to the guy and giggled in glee when the man rolled it back. Someone was playing with him! He rolled the ball over again and crouched down ready to go after it when the man rolled it back. Which he did!

Naruto got it every time and threw it back right to the man every time (mostly) so he was really sad when the man stopped playing. Had he played wrong? But the man just smiled—smiled!!!—at him and beckoned him over. “Hello.” the man said. It was really quiet but Naruto thought he had a kind voice. “HELLO!!” Naruto practically shouted bouncing on his feet. 

The man laughed. “Why are you playing all the way out here?” he asked, tilting his head slightly out at the field. “'cuz it's Dog's favorite place to play other then the place with the big rock and I haven't seen him in a few days so maybe he'll come here when he's ready to play 'cuz no one else likes to play even though Old Man Hokage tries to be fun sometimes but he gets me ramen at Ichiraku which is the best ever and you like ramen don't you? Of course you do, it's the food of the gods...” and on and on Naruto went soaking in the attention as the man listened to every word he said. 

With occasional prompting Naruto talked for a long time then later made the man tell him a story because he was tired of talking for a bit and needed a break. The man told him a story from when he was a kid (how funny to think that adults used to be kids!) about a red haired girl in his class at the academy who was really pretty and really scary. It was a funny story and Naruto tried to pay attention, he really did, but he drooped further and further into the man's side until the man started hearing light snores. 

Minato stared down at the figure beside him in awe. The small blond child had been a newborn the last time he'd had seen him and it was amazing to see the ten fingers and ten toes he and Kushina didn't get a chance to count running and playing and zipping his jacket and tying his sandals and doing things they had wanted to do for him because he was theirs to teach and spoil and take care of. 

Minato wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him into his lap and just hugged him. This was only the third time he had held his baby and he never wanted to let go again. It was only a week ago to him that Naruto had been born and Kushina had died and he woke up in this strange reality. 

Naruto was so soft and he curled into Minato's arms, as starved for touch as he was for attention, and seeming to understand even in his sleep he was safe with Minato. It was almost dark when a tall teenager (Minato couldn't wrap his head around that little boy being a man just yet) landed in front of him wearing a dog mask and an ANBU uniform. 

He unwrapped one of his arms from around Naruto and invited Kakashi into the hug also but the silver haired boy stood still as ice. “Kakashi,” he whispered with a hopeful smile, “In my head I saw you about a week ago. You were still small and fourteen. I'm sorry I've been gone...” 

The teen continued to stare. Minato lowered his arm. He brushed a lock of Naruto's hair off of his forehead before looking at Kakashi again. “Thank you and good job looking after Naruto.” he said, smiling. 

That was it and the kid broke down. He didn't fall to his knees and outright sob but his body language was close enough. Minato shifted, smoothly as not to wake Naruto, and pulled the nineteen-year old to him in a half hug and they simply sat next to each other, student and teacher reunited once more. 

With what little family he had left in arms reach Minato felt something in him settle a bit. Naruto was safe and would never be alone again and Kakashi would have someone to look after him in case he needed a fall back. 

For Minato the last week was filled with sleeping, medical tests, official paperwork, and a series of meetings with certain people to figure out what the best course of action would be. He hadn't really had time to sit and learn about all he had missed (perhaps that was a bit intentional on the Third's part). So that's what he and Kakashi did, Kakashi filled him in on a lot of what he missed and Minato's quick analytical mind processed. 

The Third Hokage sought them out and found them there an hour later.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

The Third Hokage was not happy to learn Minato had snuck out of the confidential hospital wing. It wasn't that he was trying to be difficult or unreasonable—heaven knows he would love to hand over the village back to his successor, but legally bringing the man back to life was proving a headache. There were people who wanted power and would not be happy with the Fourth Hokage's return and how to tell the village, not to mention Naruto. 

Naruto knew nothing of being a Jinchuri or his parents for his own safety and Sarutobi Hiruzen was not sure how to tell the child “sorry I lied to you here's your dad!”. Although Naruto would probably be happy to have a family…

It was that guilt that kept him from interfering after one of the ANBU reported that Minato was with Kakashi and Naruto in a secluded area. As long as no one else stumbled upon them there was no point in separating them now although it was getting late in the afternoon. 

Knowing the little blond boy's enthusiasm for the dish the old Hokage gathered several servings of ramen and had one of the ANBU who was on 'make sure the old man doesn't fall and can't get up' duty help him carry it out to where Minato was. 

Xxxxxxx

Naruto had been awake for a while now but hadn't moved 'cuz the nice guy had started rubbing his back when he had realized the boy was waking up and Naruto hadn't wanted to move. Plus, Dog was sitting next to them in the child's line of sight so if Dog like him and Naruto liked him this blond adult couldn't be that bad. 

Dog was talking! Naruto had never heard Dog talk before, had thought he couldn't, even. It was odd but Naruto decided he liked Dog's voice. They were talking about boring things but Naruto was tired so he didn't care. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before because he was cold and afraid to wake up one of the aunties to ask for another blanket. They would have gotten mad. 

The man he was leaning against stiffened sharply for a moment before he relaxed again and started running his fingers through Naruto's hair so Naruto snuggled into his chest a bit and tried to go back to sleep. A minute or so later dog stood up and bowed and the blond man called out, “Greetings Third.” That woke Naruto up, old man Third was there! 

He squirmed out of the man's hold and ran up to the old man who looked out for him a lot and made sure the aunties didn't forget about him completely. He would have jumped on the old man to give him a hug but Dog caught him mid-leap. He glared like a kitten up at the white mask and he imagined the face smiled back fake innocently. The old man laughed, “Easy Naruto or I might drop all this ramen I brought.”

“Ramen!” Naruto cried, “You're the bestest best ever Old Man! Is it from Ichiraku? 'Cuz all ramen is good but Old Man Teuchi's is the best ever!” All three adults were laughing at the child's rambling as they all sat under a tree and passed around the bowls. 

“So...” Naruto asked once he was half way through his bowl, “Who're you Mr. Blond guy? And since when does Dog talk!?! He doesn't talk to me.” The kid got a little huffy at the injustice so he didn't notice everyone look at each other trying to figure out what to tell him. 

“Well, Naruto, you know how some kids at the orphanage sometimes get to go home with a new mom and dad? This is Namikaze Minato and he's your dad.” the Third Hokage explained. Naruto's eyes got really big. “He wants ta 'dopt me?” he asked in a small voice. He turned to Minato and stared up at him in awe. 

“No, Naruto” the blond said but hurried to explain when the tears started to form in the boy's eyes, “He means I have always been your dad. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long and it's okay if you're mad, but I am so happy to see you again. I'm so proud of how well you take care of yourself and how well you take care of Kakashi—Dog—sorry, and would you like to live with me?”

Naruto was stunned. This was every kid at the orphanage’s dream and everyone always told him he'd never get a family, that his parents probably dropped him off and ran away 'cuz they didn't want him any more then anyone else did. Naruto remembers just the other day sitting just inside an alley and wondering if one of the people walking by was one of his parents. 

He was never this lucky. It had to be a trick. It was a mean one though because he really really wanted to have a house that was home and parents and a dog and a garden and and

He started crying. Immediately the blond started freaking out. “No! No! Don't cry! It's okay so you don't need to cry” he practically shouted at the child. He waved his hands around for a moment trying to decide what to do with them before deciding screw it Naruto was his kid and he let him earlier so Minato wrapped his arms around the child and hugged him tightly. 

He pulled Naruto into his lap again and fit the boy's head into his shoulder and just let the kid cry it out while whispering how he loved him and wasn't going to leave again for a good long while. Kakashi and the Third sat quietly back and let the two have their moment. It took a few minutes but, not being one to cry much, Naruto calmed down and just clung to Minato like the man would disappear at any moment. 

Minato just held on right back and grinned at the other two men. He had no idea how to do this parenting thing, especially without Kushina and with being out so long, but he felt like he had the love part down pat. It helped that Naruto seemed to like him too. 

They eventually finished their food and Naruto went back to the hospital with Minato. And while he didn't see him again for a few days Minato was sure that Kakashi was his ANBU guard. 

 

The next day Naruto wanted to go out but Minato couldn't, having not solved how to tell everyone he was alive still, so they stayed in and Minato made up a fuuinjutsu game. Minato loved to play with the lines and patterns in seals and it was surprisingly easy to get Naruto to enjoy it as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda an abrupt ending but... idk. Maybe I'll come up with something better later. 
> 
> I always seem to want to save the family members who die: Minato, Kushina, Portgas D Ace, ect. and give these characters the happy they deserve.


End file.
